Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh is calling on leaders in the United States to make Juneteenth a national holiday.
"It is a venerable and highly honorable day in our history as a nation on par with Independence Day and Memorial Day," Harbaugh told ESPN. "It represents the redeeming of the ideals that our country was founded on. Juneteenth or Freedom Day marks our true turn towards liberty for all."
Harbaugh's comments were made on Juneteenth, which observes the effective end of slavery in the United States. Although the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect Jan. 1, 1863, it wasn't until June 19, 1865, after the April 1865 conclusion of the Civil War, when the last of the newly freed slaves were read President Abraham Lincoln's decree in Texas.